Yun's Sacrifice
by Dav Flamerock
Summary: A oneshot story about Kyle Katarn's adventures in the Valley of the Jedi. Part 9 of 10. In this story, Yun sacrifices himself to save Kyle, a prisoner.


**Yun's Sacrifice**

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"No." Kyle Katarn deactivated his lightsaber.

"Very well. Then you will die." The dark jedi Jerec pushed Jan Ors to the ground. Sariss and Boc, the two dark jedi accomplices of Jerec, stood on either side of him, their eyes trained on the self-taught jedi. Standing just behind Sariss was her apprentice, Yun.

Jerec raised his hand, and Kyle flew back into the hatch of the huge cargo ship he had arrived on. With a small gesture, the dark jedi master hurled a glowing ball of red energy at the walkway Kyle had been standing on moments before. It exploded, destroying the only thing keeping the cargo ship off the ground. Alarms went off inside the ship, and Kyle saw the four dark jedi lead their captive, Jan Ors, away as the atmosphere door closed. Kyle felt himself slide down the sloping floor as the ship tilted, falling towards the rocky outcropping below. Suddenly, the voice of Kyle's mentor, Que Rahn, entered Kyle's head…

_You have stayed true to the light side of the force. However, this ship is falling apart. The _Moldy Crow_ is docked in the starboard docking bay. Hurry!_

Kyle leaped over some crates that threatened to crush him. Running along the tops of the boxes that had fallen to this corner of the room, Kyle connected with the Force. He reached the doorway to the freight hallway which now slanted down and to the right. As he neared the doorway, he sensed something with the Force. He stopped, and a huge box flew down the hallway to crash on the wall at the end. Kyle remembered Que Rahn's warning, and dashed down the hall, turning right into another sloped room.

Kyle followed red arrows painted on the ground through the falling ship. Finally, he dashed through a narrow hallway, cutting down a stormtrooper in his way. At the other end of the slanted hallway was a door. It opened with a hiss, revealing a huge hollow that opened up at the bottom. Far below, a ship hung suspended by a thin cable that rose above Kyle to the roof far above. There was also a ledge leading from another entrance to the ship, the _Moldy Crow_. Kyle looked at the wall next to him. There was a control panel, so he activated it. A feminine voice suddenly came over the PA:

"Impact in one minute."

Kyle looked down. The walkway was rising to meet him, but the _Crow_ was staying where it was, far below Kyle's current position. Sure he had missed something, Kyle doubled back. He dashed through the hallway, and leapt up out of the hole where he had come down. Now in the huge slanted room, Kyle noticed a green arrow pointing to a pair of lifts. He ran for the lifts, and upon entering the deserted shafts found they were slanted at an angle where he could run down the side of the shaft to a level below. Kyle reached the next level, only to find it was the bottom floor.

Kyle fell through the open doorway into yet another large slanted room. However, this time he landed on a crate that was sliding towards the end of the room – and highly explosive crates. Kyle leapt off in the other direction, using the Force to propel himself even farther. He hit the floor, but couldn't hold on. As he neared the imminent explosion, he called on the Force to protect him, and the explosion went off in front of him harmlessly.

Kyle dashed through the ship, following green arrows until he burst through a door and into a control room. He approached the control panel and saw the _Moldy Crow_ on the other side of the window in front of him.

"Impact in thirty seconds."

Kyle tapped in a few controls, and the _Crow_ started to rise. He bolted from the room, following the green arrows backwards.

"Impact in fifteen seconds."

He used the Force to disarm a nearby stormtrooper.

"Impact in ten seconds."

Kyle leapt over the doorway, climbing the slanted lift shaft.

"Impact in five…"

Kyle burst through the door, racing along the slanted plank to the _Crow_.

"…four…"

He leapt into the _Crow_'s cockpit.

"…three…"

He detached the cable and powered up the _Moldy Crow_'s engines.

"…two…"

The _Crow_ rocketed from the falling ship, just making it past the huge explosion of the doomed ship.

However, Kyle was still shaky from his narrow escape from the cargo ship, and he wasn't the best pilot around. The _Crow _glanced a rock spire, knocking off a wing and sending the ship into a descending spiral. Kyle saw the ship nearing a canyon, when a rock pillar took off the other wing. The ship crashed, and Kyle blacked out.

When Kyle awoke, he was lying face-up on a rock, his arms bound to his sides. He sensed dark jedi nearby. He looked up to see Boc, Sariss, and Yun standing nearby. Boc, the twi'liek, noticed Kyle had awoken, and strode over. He was hunched and he held Kyle's lightsaber. Standing over the jedi, Boc caressed the jedi's lightsaber.

"Such a bad fall. But you'll be happy to know I found your lightsaber. Want it? Distinctive. Very distinctive." Boc placed Kyle's lightsaber on a rock beside Kyle's head, using the Force to keep it from Kyle's reach. He lifted a rock, stroked it, and hurled it at the energy sword lying on the ground. The power crystal in the core of the lightsaber shattered.

"Not so distinctive _now_, is it?" Boc cackled like a maniac.

"Enough of this!" Sariss was now approaching. "Tell Jerec this jedi will soon join the dead."

"Oops." Boc retreated, laughing madly.

Sariss removed her cloak, handing it to Yun who tore his eyes from the helpless Kyle long enough to take it. She stood over Kyle, drawing her lightsaber. Sariss activated her blade and swung it down. There was a flash of yellow, a clash of lightsabers, and Yun cried out in pain.

Yun stood beside his master, his yellow lightsaber glowing. When he had stopped Sariss's blade, she had swung up in reflex, nearly bisecting him.

"WHY?" She croaked, surprise and anger in her voice.

With the last of his breath, Yun replied,

"He's a jedi, he deserves a fight."

But as Yun fell, Kyle looked into his eyes and saw a different message.

_You were right._

Kyle leapt to his feet, backing away and struggling out of his bonds. With a laugh, Sariss raised her hand and threw lightning at Kyle. He let it born off his bonds and then called on the Force to protect him from the rest.

The jedi backpedaled, trying to figure out a way to defeat Sariss. His lightsaber was destroyed, and the light side used their power only to protect, not to destroy. His gaze passed over Yun, the dark youth who had sacrificed himself to save a light jedi. Then, Kyle saw it – the metal cylinder lying near Yun's hand. Sariss cried out as she leapt into the air, flying towards Kyle. He whipped out his hand, and Yun's lightsaber flew into his grasp. Kyle raised the yellow blade just in time, deflecting the blue blade that had fallen from the sky.

Sariss roared in rage, Yun's blade having been used against her twice now. She assaulted him with a flurry of blows. He was able to avoid them, ducking under a hard swing and throwing Sariss off-balance. Kyle lunged at Sariss's unprotected flank, but she kicked him away, allowing her time to steady herself. The two jedi threw themselves at each other, getting their lightsabers locked in a contest of strength. After a few tedious moments, Kyle gained the upper hand. Suddenly Sariss collapsed, and Kyle struck hard. But just as Kyle knocked Sariss's sword aside, she stuck out her other hand and Kyle flew backwards, to crash into the rock wall behind him.

Sariss laughed and strode towards Kyle's wounded figure. Just as she reached him, however, he leapt into the air, using the Force to send him higher than he ever had jumped before. He misjudged the outcropping they were on, and flew off the ledge into the canyon below.

Kyle quickly took in his surroundings. He stood in a shallow creek at the base of a box canyon. Ahead of him were two outcroppings, one of which had a path up the back. Behind him was the base of some kind of installation. Sariss's voice floated down from the outcroppings, taunting him.

"Why do you run?"

Kyle closed his eyes, using the Force to probe for his foe. She appeared instantly, a dark cloud. She strode down the path towards him. Kyle waited for her around the corner at the end of the path. She turned, and Kyle leapt on her. Unprepared, Sariss fell back under the fury of Kyle's blows. Finally Kyle was able to slip his lightsaber behind Sariss's and disarmed her. In a last-ditch attempt to hold Kyle off, Sariss stretched out her empty hands and poured lightning at him screaming,

"Die!"

The bolts were absorbed into the lightsaber blade, but the sheer energy kept the lightsaber in place. Kyle struggled to move his sword, but to no avail.

The jedi deactivated his lightsaber and pulled the Force to him in a protective cloak. He then leapt forward, grabbing Sariss's lightsaber.

The look of surprise on Sariss's face stayed as Kyle beheaded her.

The jedi took one last look at Sariss's dead form before retrieving Yun's lightsaber. Using the Force, Kyle retrieved Yun's body and placed it in the creek.

"You would have made a great jedi." Kyle placed Sariss's lightsaber on Yun's killing wound and turned to face the entrance to the Imperial installation.

"Now, Jerec, we'll see about that valley…"


End file.
